1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle boundary layer air flow control structure. More specifically, the present invention relates a vehicle boundary layer air flow control structure that favorably control an air flow oriented toward an exterior door mirror or other side view mirror that is mounted to a vehicle body.
2. Background Information
An exterior door mirror or other side view mirror is mounted to a vehicle body of a vehicle to enable a driver of the vehicle to see in a diagonally rearward direction from a driver's seat. However, although inevitable in view of its purpose, a side view mirror protrudes sideways from the vehicle body. Thus, the traveling wind produced by the moving vehicle directly collides with the side view mirror. In addition, air flowing along an exterior surface of the vehicle body also collides against the side view mirror. The traveling wind directly colliding against the side view mirror is substantially laminar flow if the traveling wind has not been affected by an obstacle and does not cause a large amount of wind noise when it collides against the side view mirror. However, air flowing along an exterior surface of the vehicle body can be turbulent due to the shape of the exterior surface of the vehicle body. In this case, the turbulent air flow produced from the traveling wind flowing along the vehicle body will cause a large wind noise to emanate from the side view mirror when the turbulent air flow collides against the side view mirror.
A conventional countermeasure proposal has been presented in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H06-312673 for solving this problem. This proposed technology involves either providing a wind deflector extending in the vehicle widthwise direction on an upper surface (in the case of a passenger car) of the vehicle in a position frontward of the side view mirror such that the wind deflector crosses an air flow direction, or providing a wind deflector extending in a vertical direction of the vehicle on an frontward surface (in the case of a commercial vehicle) of the vehicle such that the wind deflector crosses an air flow direction. With the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H06-312673, when the vehicle is traveling, the wind deflector, as described above, serves to divert (bend) traveling wind that collides against the wind deflector by approximately 90 degrees in a widthwise outward direction of the vehicle when viewed from above. As a result, a transverse air flow is created that crosses directly in front of the side view mirror in a widthwise (inside-to-outside) direction of the vehicle. In the technology proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H06-312673, the transverse air flow crossing in front of the side view mirror serves to push air flowing toward the side view mirror in a widthwise outward direction of the vehicle such that the air flowing toward the side view mirror does not collide against the side view mirror.
Other conventional technologies for resolving the wind noise problem described above include the countermeasures described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication Nos. S60-163174 and S61-094484. The technology proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. S60-163174 provides an upward protuberance and a sideways projection on a vehicle body cowl panel to divert vehicle body traveling wind upward and outward at a position directly in front of a side view mirror. In this way, the problem of vehicle body traveling wind colliding directly against the side view mirror can be alleviated. The technology proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S61-094484 provides a deflector on a vehicle body surface directly in front of a side view mirror to divert vehicle body traveling wind upward at a position directly in front of the side view mirror. In this way, the problem of vehicle body traveling wind colliding directly against the side view mirror can be alleviated.